One Day at a Time
by princ3ssf33t
Summary: Nothing's easy. Especially when you're a superhero and have to raise a family on your own. Life's joys and bumps along the way. Prequel to A Bat's Catch-22.
1. Part 1 Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Put me down Di-Nightwing! This isn't funny!" Barbara laughed out.

"Really? I thought it was pretty hilarious," he answered shifting her weight, glad that she didn't have her utility belt with- never mind.

With her utility belt digging into his shoulder he began carrying her away from the training room. He continued to smirk as she protested being the sack of potatoes thrown over his shoulder. She hit him lightly on the back, trying to get down. He wasn't giving in to her. She reached down as far as she could and smacked him on the ass.

"Ow! What was that for?" He exclaimed.

"Put me down! I'm not a sack of potatoes for you to carry around!"

Slowly he dropped her from his shoulder but pinned her against the wall. He leaned in closer than he would normally have but he was always one that didn't understand personal boundaries. Barbara's hands were pressed against the wall and waited for him to move. He took a deep breath. His mouth opened to speak, but flapped like a fish.

"Oh spit it out already, Boy Blunder," She sighed rolling her eyes.

"Would you like to go out on a date with me?"

There was a moment where there was silence between the pair.

"What?!" She exclaimed, thinking that she didn't hear him right.

"I asked if you would like to go out on a date with me."

Barbara stared at her oldest friend. What was going on in his brain? Was there something that she had done to give him the thought that this was something that she would be interested? They had a complicated relationship, that much she knew. They would claim that they were only partners in the field and friends in civvies. But there was more. They flirted more than some established couples. But they would back away before anything could progress.

Dick saw her face and hastily spoke.

"Just one date! That's all I swear! And if that doesn't work out, then we could forget about it. Please, I just want a chance."

She narrowed her eyes. One date couldn't ruin their entire relationship could it?

"Alright. But I have a question of my own. Who's asking?"

She got a blank look in return. He didn't understand the 'who' the question was pertaining to.

"Who's asking? Nightwing or Dick?"

"Did you just call the boss a dick?" Cassie asked walking into the room.

Dick flushed red at the comment. Barbara needed to be just a little more careful and not throw around their identities so loosely. But then she was the one that wasn't wearing her sunglasses anymore.

"Uh, YES." Barbara hid a smirk, behind the growing blush.

Tim, Connor and M'gann were standing behind Cassie, all with a secret smirk similar to Barbara's. There were always perks when you know the inside joke, or secret identities. There was a moment that everyone in the room stood there unable to do anything. Cassie was waiting for someone to throw the first punch, and the rest waiting for the awkwardness to end.

Finally Tim cleared his throat.

"Uh, how about we leave them to their business. I'm sure that they would like to conduct it in private."

Five people gave him a shocked look. Tim then realized what he said, and what it sounded like.

"To talk it out, you know? Or they could fight about it- or- I'm just going to leave now." He turned around and practically ran out of the room.

M'gann giggled and pulled Connor out of the room by his elbow. Cassie stood there for mere seconds afterwards before waving quick and flying from the room.

Both Dick and Barbara watched the door were their teammates left before turning to each other.

"Uh, so to answer your question, _I_ was asking," Dick said pulling his sunglasses off of his face.

Barbara's smile twitched in place. He wasn't going to let this go any time soon. She might as well get it over with.

"Alright."

With one swoop Dick's sunglasses were on his face again and his arms were around her in a tight hug. She was spun around, legs flying out in the air. Surprised, she didn't resist it. It was like the time that she had first become Batgirl and was accepted into the team. Dick set her down, gave a small kiss to her cheek and fled the room.

Barbara stared dumbly after him. She lightly touched her cheek where she was kissed. There was nothing unusual about it. Dick had given her kisses on the cheek before. But this one felt different. Or perhaps it was the same, and she felt different. She pushed those thoughts out of the way. She could deal with that later.

* * *

The evening wasn't as awkward as Barbara thought that it would be. She had spent nearly an hour choosing the right outfit, which got her even more nervous. She knew he would like anything that she wore, but she wanted to make sure that it was it was sending the right message. She wanted to be pretty, but she didn't want to look too interested.

It was ten minutes before Dick was picking her up and she still had nothing to where. Clothes were strewn all around her room in attempts to find the perfect blend. She groaned.

"What am I gonna do?"

There was a knock on her door just then and the door opened.

"Hey! Babs!"

Dropping in unannounced was nothing new for them. But Barbara was standing in her bedroom in just her jeans and a bra, and she really didn't want him to come in and see her. He had seen her strip down to her undergarments before, but she hadn't thought anything of it at the time. But now that was changed. She heard as his footsteps as he walked closer to her bedroom.

"Hey Babs, are you almost ready?" He called.

"Don't come in HERE!" Babs screeched. "I'm not ready yet!"

She looked around randomly for something that she could put on. Something purple sparkled, catching her eye. She grabbed it and slipped it over her head without thinking. She ran to the door and threw it open before he could open it.

"Wow, uh, Babs, you look great. You look, well, you look hot."

Barbara blushed. She looked down at the top that she had thrown on. It was the one that Zatanna had gotten her after she had broken up with her first boyfriend. It was the only thing that she hadn't worn since she bought it, and for good reason. There were no sleeves and showed the slightest bit of skin on her midriff. It form-fitted to her body, not unlike her work uniform, but this _accented_ her.

Her blush grew even deeper.

"If you would like me to change, I'll go back in," Barbara offered. _Please ask me to go back in._

"No!" Dick answered quickly. He flushed as well. "You look fine, I mean."

"Okay."

There was a long drawn out silence after that. No one knew where to lead the conversation from there. Barbara was sure that something like this would happen, and there it was.

"Well, we should be going." He offered her his arm. He offered her that cheeky smile that always seemed to get him his way.

Barbara only took his arm because it would make him happy. He knew that she wasn't a big fan of being the submissive female. But she indulged him, this time.

_This time? _

* * *

Barbara wiped the tears from her eyes. Only Dick could ever make her laugh this hard. She had heard this joke before, but just the way that he told it made it funnier than when she heard it the last time.

They were sitting in a little café on the edge of Gotham Bay. There was nothing overly romantic about it, just a few candles sitting on the tables and soft violin music playing through the sound syst-.

Okay, so it was totally romantic.

Not that she was really complaining. She enjoyed seeing flounder as he tried to explain that this wasn't his plan.

"I mean, I swear, I didn't ask for- This wasn't- It just-"

"Relax Boy Blunder. You are obviously not coordinated enough to have orchestrated this whole evening. You're still the blushing nine-year-old boy who could barely put together a sentence without inserting Romani into it when talking to a girl." Barbara smiled knowingly.

"I grew up in the circus! We travelled all around. Besides, there were hardly any girls that were my age that didn't see me as a little brother. Prospects for romance were slim. Besides I was nine! I was convinced that girls were infected with cooties!" Dick protested.

"And what do you think about it now?" Barbara said leaning in across the table.

Flirting. She was openly flirting. Her heart pounded at the thought of the consequences of it. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to allow herself to do it, but here she was doing the exact thing that she told herself that she wasn't going to. The worst part about the whole thing; it felt so completely natural.

"I don't know. There's this one girl and I think that she kinda has it out for me."

Barbara smirked. Their waiter came around and dropped off the bill. Both his blue eyes and her blue-green ones darted to it and back to the person sitting across from them. They both lunged at the same time. There was a little scrabbling as each party tried to grab hold of the bill. Eventually, Dick pulled away victorious.

Barbara huffed and slouched back into her chair.

"Hey, I was the one who asked you on this date. It's only fair that I pay for your food."

Barbara grumbled about chivalry.

Dick laughed. It didn't matter to him as he walked over to the counter and paid for their meal. He walked back to the table and held his arm out for Barbara to take. Only for her to narrow her eyes at him and stalk to his car. Dick chuckled again. That was his girl.

* * *

Barbara was mad. Not at Dick. No, she couldn't stay mad at him for very long. She was mad at herself. She had told herself for years that she wasn't falling for her best friend. Total denial. Yeah, there were times were she absently flirted, but that was harmless. But now, now it didn't feel so harmless. And she was enjoying it. She needed to get home, stick in a movie, eat a tub of ice cream and think this through.

Needless to say she snapped at Dick to take her home when he got in the car. She felt bad about it instantly, but there was no changing her mind. There were things that needed to thought out.

The ride home was silent. Mostly. The radio was on and talking about how Superman had saved the day once again from sure disaster.

Dick tried to start a conversation, but the silence coming from the redhead was deafening.

Barbara would have been all glad to have left Dick at the stoop of her door, but he insisted on walking her up to her door. So she allowed him to do so. He was a big boy, he could handle his own thing. But could he handle her?

Barbara stopped outside of her door and stared at the knob before sighing, very aware that Dick was still behind her.

"Listen, I'm sorry I snapped earlier. It's been a while since I've been on a date of any kind."

"It's all right. I understand. I asked out of the blue. But I really did have a good time tonight with you. I'd like to do it again some time."

Barbara could hear the hope creeping into his voice. She opened her mouth to answer and was surprised at the words that escaped.

"Yeah, I'd like that too."

Dick took a step closer. He was unsure of what was running through his head. But he knew that he didn't want the evening to end how it was going.

Barbara gathered up her courage. She needed to face him to speak. She took a deep breath and turned to her oldest friend. Her eyes widened when she felt the gentle pressure of his lips on hers.

Dick's own eyes just widened. That wasn't what he was aiming for. He just wanted to give her a kiss on the cheek. But then she turned her head and there she was. He was too close or him to change his path. But now that he was kissing her, he was pleasantly surprised at just how natural it felt.

_What the HELL is he thinking?_ Barbara screamed inside. _Was I giving the wrong type of signals? Wha- Am I enjoying this? Why am I kissing BACK?_

Indeed she was. She was kissing back with even more passion that Dick was. Somehow her hands made their way around to the back of his head and wrapped themselves in his dark black hair.

Dick was unsure of what he was doing. What they were doing. It was not the thing that they should be doing, but it felt so goddamn right. It felt so natural, him and her, like they were meant to be. She smelled of strawberry shampoo and tasted even sweeter.

Barbara was unsure where her head was. But suddenly she found herself thinking things that she would never ever thought that she could ever think. And they were all about her best friend. The most prominent one was, why haven't I done this sooner?

He pinned her against the door without realizing what he was doing. Instinct took over and he began kissing even harder. The chemicals in his body chemistry was changing, he could feel it, and he was so close that it wouldn't be long before Babs knew.

"Are you sure you're not wearing you're utility belt?" Babs murmured into his mouth.

_Damn_.

"Are you sure that you want keep this going?" Dick answered with his own smirk.

"Less talking, more passion," she muttered before kissing him even harder.

Somehow she turned the key and the doorknob and they spilled into the living area of Barbara's apartment. The door was barely closed before clothing hit the ground.

* * *

**A/N: Side note about this particular prequel. It will be divided into separate parts over their lives. And it's going to be more like a series of one-shots. I hope you enjoyed this first installment. Reviews bring rainbows into the world. **

**A/N (part II): I apologize if the updates are random ahead of time. College is beginning and there is a whole load of stuff that comes along with that. **


	2. Part 1 Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Barbara stared down at the sink for a moment. The sight made her nauseous, and she hoped that it was wrong. For the third time. Three small bits of plastic, all with the same damning message.

Pink positives.

She stared down at the answers so forcefully, _willing_ them to change themselves. She was so intent on the stare-down that it took her a moment to realize that the noise disturbing her solitude was her phone. She shook her head out of the daze, and dug into her skinny jeans for the smartphone.

The caller ID said that it was Dick.

_Isn't that a kick in the chest?_ She thought.

"Hey Dick, what's up?" She forced as much cheerfulness into her voice as she could.

"Are you okay? You left in a bit of a rush last night." He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But I was wondering if we could postpone our date tonight? Some things have come up that I need to take care of." Barbara's eyes wandered down to the plastic.

"Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I gotta go."

Just like that she hung up on him. She felt bad in the back of her mind, but at the moment she wasn't thinking about his feelings. She needed to figure out what she was going to do. Nothing about this was going to be easy.

She swept the plastic into the waste basket and stormed out into the living room.

She knew that something would happen when she accepted that date with Dick. But she didn't think that _this_ would have been the outcome. But then again, no one ever expects this to happen. What was she thinking? They didn't even use protection. Her father would kill her for being caught so unprepared. Oh God. Her father.

She sat down on the very sofa that she had woken up the morning afterwards. She was surprised at just how easily they transitioned from best friends into boy/girlfriend. Now that she thought about it, it was scary how naturally they transitioned between the two.

Her fingers gently rubbed the fading and threadbare fabric of her thrift store sofa. She thought of the feelings and memories as she felt the fabric. Suddenly she stood threw her purse over her shoulder and stormed out of the apartment.

Barbara marched out of the apartment building without greeting the lobby secretary as she normally did. She knew exactly where she was going, despite never having been there in her life. She would walk by it on her way to her library job every day. Never did she actually think that she would be the one to need it. She stopped in front of the door and stared at the shiny glass doors.

It was supposed to look inviting to those less fortunate. To Barbara it looked sterile. Uninviting. Cold with hard lines. Unforgiving. That wasn't what Barbara needed.

She didn't even take a step on the front step before she turned and ran.

Barbara knew that she couldn't go through it. She may not want to be in this position, but she couldn't do that. She needed someone to talk to. And only one name popped into her head.

She kept running until she got into one of the least desirable districts to be in. She ran into a stone building with the same amount of graffiti as all the buildings around it, but it maintained all of its window panes.

The lobby was nearly empty. A small boy sat in one of the chairs. He looked up at the red-head and gave a slight wave. Barbara wiped the tears from her eyes and gave a small wave back. She sat on one of the chairs and her leg began to shake. And it wouldn't stop.

"-And make sure that he gets plenty of rest. We don't want his stitches to come undone now. Barbara?!"

Dr. Leslie Thompkins was surprised at the sight of the red-headed crime fighter in her civilian identity. Quickly she finished helping her patients and then turned to her ally. Her white hair curled around and framed her face. She sat next to the red-head and gripped her hand.

"For what do I owe this pleasure of your visit?" She asked gently.

Visits from the Bat-clan were not unusual. But usually they involved injuries, blood, followed by the inevitable lecture on something better that they could do with their lives. There weren't very many social calls in their line of work.

"Is there anything that I could help you with?"

If there was one thing that Leslie knew, it was that the Bats weren't big on social calls. Every once and a blue moon they would have fifteen minutes of enjoyment. Leslie had the feeling that this wasn't one of those few moments.

"I needed someone's advice. A _woman's_ advice," Barbara murmured.

"_Oh_."

"Yeah, so could we go somewhere a bit more, er, private?" Barbara asked and bit her lip.

"Of course, right this way," Leslie stood and led her young ally down a hallway and into her semi-private office. "I apologize for the mess. My office mate is just moving in. Her stuff is still a bit scattered."

"It's alright Dr. Thompkins. Messes aren't really of much bother to me."

Barbara sat in the chair opposite from the doctor for a moment where there was not a word said between the two. Leslie leaned forward and rested her chin on her hands waiting for the young red-head to begin to speak.

"I think I'm in trouble."

There was no response from the older doctor. She knew that Barbara needed to come out with it on her own.

"Leslie, I think I'm pregnant."

"Have you told anyone yet?" Leslie asked leaning forward.

"No. You were the first person that I told. I only found out officially this morning," Barbara gripped her hands together.

"You haven't told the father yet? Why are you hesitating? It a joyous moment in your lives."

Barbara looked down. She wanted to tell Dick about the whole thing. But she couldn't do that. He had a future ahead of him, and she didn't want to be the one who brought him down.

"Who is the father, Barb?"

Barbara only looked at the doctor. The doctor realized the look on her face. She had seen it before. It only appeared when a certain _crime-fighter_ was involved.

"Why don't you tell me just what happened?"

* * *

_She awoke on the sofa underneath a blanket that had been resting on the back of the sofa. She stretched and held back a gasp when she felt another warm body sharing her blanket and equally in a state of undress. She slipped out of the blanket quickly and quietly and walked into her bedroom where she dressed herself._

_She came back out and poured herself a cup of coffee. She never was a big coffee person before, but once she started her night job, coffee had become just like her best friend. So she stood there staring out at the rising red sun through the streets, not thinking about anything. Or at least trying to. _

_She couldn't shake the fact that she had slept with her best friend. _

_They'd always been flirty with each other. It had always been a part of their relationship. It was comfortable. Natural. _

_"So, what's the plan for today?"_

_Barbara jumped a little. She was so engulfed into her own thoughts that she hadn't heard Dick get up. _

_"I'm not sure."_

_She felt as he walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. His body was warm next to hers and she felt comfort in his arms. Outwards her body relaxed as she internally she shook herself. She couldn't allow herself to be dragged into anything. Neither of them could. _

_"Relax Babs, why are you so tense?" _

_What could she tell him? We slept together and now things weren't going to be easy? No, that was only an excuse and a lame one at that. Their lives weren't easy to begin with, a side effect of crime-fighting, but they were both tough enough to deal. She knew that nothing was really going to change. Barbara decided on going with a safe option. _

_"I'm just unsure as to where we are going to go from here. We can't go back to what we were, but how do we move forward with this? Neither of us is really in a position to be in a committed relationship. What do we do?"_

_Dick spun her around in his arms and looked closely at her. Her hands rested on his bare chest and for a moment there was no other thought in her head, but that was quickly pushed aside. _

_"What do we do? Barbara, we're going to take it one day at a time. We don't have to start anything too serious right away, but you have to admit that you would like something more." He only paused for a moment for her to agree with her expression. "We don't have to jump the gun; we can take it slow. One day at a time. Like when you first found out I was Robin and you became Batgirl."_

_"Except I can't slap you for this," Barbara grumbled to herself. _

_"What was that?" Dick asked chuckling to himself._

_"One day at a time. I'll give you that much Grayson. One. Day. At. A. Time."_

_Dick's smile could've outshone the rising sun in that moment before he leaned down and kissed Barbara again on the lips. _

* * *

Barbara was pacing in her living room. She was crazy. This whole idea was crazy and someone should lock her up in Arkham right now. But she was following the advice of Leslie and she promised that she would go through it. And a Gordon always goes through with their promises.

Mostly.

She chewed her lip and wrung her hands together. What the hell was she thinking?

There wasn't much time to ponder what she was thinking. The doorbell rang and her heart stood still for a moment. She walked towards the door in a stupor and opened the door.

"Here's your pizza ma'am. That'll be eighteen-fifty."

Barbara shook her head of everything else and reached inside her purse. She paid the delivery boy and took the pizza inside her home, shutting the door behind her. She set it on the table and leaned over it. She was beginning to feel nauseous.

Her first thought was panic. It was too early for morning sickness! She brushed that aside. It was just nerves. Yeah, nerves. She was nervous about this whole thing. How many times do you have to tell your boyfriend that you're pregnant? She pressed her hands against her forehead. Her pep-talk was not helping her at all.

The door opened behind her.

"Babs? You okay? You sounded a stressed when we talked on the phone earlier. What happened that I had to come over today?" Dick asked as he let himself into her apartment.

Oh that's right. She gave him a key to her apartment.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I ordered pizza, why don't we sit down and eat something?"

Not understanding her rush to begin eating he agreed and they sat together eating. There wasn't much said at the table. The only sound was them eating and swallowing their food.

Dick remained quiet. He could tell that something was bothering his girlfriend. He was curious to see just what it was, but decided that keeping his mouth shut would be the safest choice of action. He would just say one wrong word and she would go off on it but never tell you what she was really thinking.

After eating until they were full and putting the leftovers in the fridge they sat on the sofa together. Barbara continually avoided his eyes. He sat there, awkwardly, waiting for her to begin.

"Dick, there's something that I have to tell you."

"Okay." Short and sweet. He was doing alright. There was no way that he was going to screw _this_ up this time.

"That's it? Just okay? Are you even interested in what I have to say?"

"Of course, Barbara. I just don't know what to say. What would you like me to say?" He looked at her. Tears were forming in her eyes. She stood and faced away from him.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's alright. Whatever it is, I'm sure that we'll get through it together. What's going on?" He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her closely.

"But Dick, I can't."

"Can't what? Babe, tell me."

"I don't know what I was thinking, you should just go home."

"No, Babs, tell me what is going on." Dick wasn't going to leave without some answers. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her around to face him.

"No, I can't."

"Barbara Eileen Gordon."

Barbara looked up into his face. Tears were beginning to fall down her face. She looked into Dick's comforting face and she completely broke down. She buried her face into his chest and murmured something.

"What?"

She lifted her head and looked deep into his eyes.

"I'm pregnant."

All thoughts in his head vanished and his knees began to give way. Somehow he managed to make his way to the sofa and sit down before he collapsed.

Barbara was cursing herself inside. She knew that she shouldn't have told him. And now there was no way that she could take that back. She sat down on a dining room chair and watched him as gears turned in his head.

They sat there in silence. It was nearly ten minutes before Dick found his courage to speak again.

"You're sure?"

"Yeah, I visited Dr. Thompkins this morning. It's official." Barbara looked steadily at him. Her tears had been wiped away before.

"Wow. Just… wow. That's just… wow."

Barbara was dumbstruck. She just told him that she was pregnant and he just said wow. That underwhelmed her.

"Is that all you can say? Say something else."

"Barbara, will you marry me?" Dick asked.

Barbara stared at him. A question that was out of the blue. But it wasn't something that she wasn't prepared for. She knew Dick. He was loyal to everyone. It was one of the many things that she loved about him. But that was exactly why she couldn't do it.

"No."

"No?" Dick looked taken aback. That wasn't the answer that he was looking for. That wasn't the answer that he was expecting.

Barbara moved from her chair to sit next to him on the sofa. She grabbed his hand and rested it on her lap. She leaned into him before she started speaking.

"No. Not right now. You aren't ready. _We're_ not ready."

Dick's face fell and he tried to remove his hand from her grip. Barbara refused to allow him to remove his hand. He needed to hear her through.

"Did you hear me? I said that we're not ready right now. But as I quote a very smart man that I know, I want to take this one day at a time. Can you do that?"

Dick finally succeeded in pulling his hand from her grasp.

For a moment Barbara was disappointed. He wasn't going to stay. But there was a moment where he looked down at her stomach. He gingerly reached out and rested his hand on her stomach. Slowly a smile spread on his face before he looked up to her face. He pulled her into a deep embrace.

"Someday, we'll be ready. _I'll_ be ready. One day at a time. I promise."

That was one promise that she was sure to make sure that he was going to keep.

* * *

**A/N: Here's one chapter to read just before school begins and lives are filled with work that should actually be done. But I will still work on this. That is what weekends are for. I'm sorry if the characters seem a little OOC for this. It was a difficult chapter to write for some reason. **

**As always, Reviews are appreciated. Until next time. **


	3. Part 1 Chapter 3

Chapter Three

There was no way that she or Dick was going to make it through this afternoon alive. There was no freaking way. No. Freaking. Way.

They had decided to hide the pregnancy for as long as they possibly could. It wasn't like they wanted to keep it a secret from her father; no they wanted to tell him. But the moment Gordon found out about it, he would blab it to Bruce and then Batman would bench Batgirl. And then criminals would probably figure things out. That never was a good thing.

But time worked against them. Eventually Barbara would begin to show and there would be no hiding it anymore. And today was that day.

"Argh! Why won't they just snap?!" Barbara nearly yelled arching her back into the air.

Dick restrained his laughter. Watching Barbara struggle to put on her jeans for the past week amused him to no end. But if she ever found out that he enjoyed her struggle, she would kick his ass. Pregnant and she could still kick his ass, but that wasn't going to last for long. But the moment that she would be able to, she would surely kick his ass once again.

"Are you sure that you don't want to wear the sweats? I'm sure that people won't look at you any different of you wear casual gear for one day."

"Dick, I can't just wear sweats. I have places to be today." Barbara grunted as she finally snapped the jeans together.

"Then why don't you go to the store and buy the maternity clothes you keep glancing at the store?"

Barbara froze. Her hands rested on her stomach. She was heading into the fifth month and baggy clothes had been pushing the limits for a while. She could barely get into her jeans, let alone the Batgirl suit. And she could only give excuses for so long.

"The moment I walk into that department it would mean that I would have to tell them."

"Maybe it's time to tell them. I mean, they already know that we're living together. And I'm training to become a police officer under your father's direction. Maybe it's time."

"You're right. Maybe it is time."

Dick walked over and rested his hands on her stomach. He held her close. He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck and peppered her with light kisses. Barbara giggled and brushed at his face.

"Alright, I'll call my dad over for dinner. We can tell him then. Now let me go."

"Why?" Dick smirked.

"I need to go to the store, so I can get something presentable. Having your dad come over and wearing sweats isn't the greatest presentation. Besides I need to get out of these jeans."

"Then why don't you change out of them now?"

Barbara turned around and gave him a playful shove on the chest.

"Not after working to get into these jeans for twenty minutes! I worked too hard not to enjoy the feeling of my familiar jeans around me for the last time in a long while. Now buzz off. You need to start making dinner, because we all know that I would probably poison everyone if I tried."

Dick didn't hold back the laugh, this time.

* * *

Barbara felt that if she saw anyone, she would turn redder than a steamed lobster. But luck seemed to be on her side for the moment, because there was no one in the store that seemed to looking for a redhead in the maternity section. Quickly she walked through the clothing and grabbed a few of the more decent and less obvious maternity wear. Grabbing different sizes of jeans, she slipped into the changing room.

Finding shirts wasn't as difficult as she thought that it would be. Soon she had a satisfying pile sitting next her in the dressing room. She was dealing with the pants situation when she heard familiar voices in the maternity section.

"I really don't want to be here. Are you sure that I can't wait in the toy section? I think that it would be better if I waited there."

"Oh, don't be such a whiner. I doubt that people are going to be looking for the Boy Wonder in the maternity section," an unknown female voice answered.

_Boy Wonder? It couldn't be…_

"Unless you actually are worried about your secret identity?" The female sounded positively enthused by this. "C'mon are you sure that you can't give me a little hint as to who you are? I promise that I won't tell anyone."

Curiosity took over. She had to take a peek to be sure that it was really who she thought it was. She slipped on a pair of the jeans that actually fit somewhat comfortably, and poked her head around the door to see what, or rather, who was talking.

"I'm not worried about that. And you should stop saying that out loud. We wouldn't want anyone to make connections."

"HA! You are worried about it!" The blonde crowed.

A dark haired boy whipped his head around quickly searching for anyone in the area. The dark sunglasses and the red sweatshirt were familiar. _Tim_.

"No, I-"

"Just admit it. You don't want people to associate you with this." The blonde gestured towards her stomach.

"Steph, you know that I am doing this for you. This is for your protection," Tim tried to explain.

"Bah! You're talking to the daughter of one of the many crime villains in Gotham. Granted, he's not on the A-list, he barely made the B-list. I think that I can handle myself."

The girl, Steph, was rummaging through different clothing racks. When Barbara got a look at her face she was startled. It was one of those runaways that the Team had rescued from the Reach.

"But you can't Steph. You're _pregnant_ and you wouldn't want to harm the baby, would you?" Tim leaned over the rack towards the girl.

"You're right Ro- What should I call you?" She asked leaning closer to him over the rack. "Since I obviously can't call you what I know you by because you're afraid of your secret getting out."

"You can call me, er, Alvin."

_Alvin? Seriously? That is the best that he could come up with?_

"Alvin? Like as in the chipmunk? Are you going to break out in silly songs next?" Steph giggled covering her mouth with her hand.

"Maybe you should call me Al."

"Okay then _Al_. Want to go get some ice cream? I'm sure that that would be a more enjoyable experience than this."

Relief flooded Tim's face. "Yeah, let's do that."

"Good. Besides, I won't be showing for a while, so I won't need these clothes yet." A smirk escaped to her face.

"WHAT!? You mean that you spent the entire afternoon torturing me with this and you don't even need it soon?" Tim exclaimed loudly.

Steph walked away laughing.

Tim sighed and then it happened. He rolled his eyes in the direction of the dressing rooms. Barbara didn't duck behind the door. She was still leaning out watching them, and they connected eyes.

_Oh, shit._

Tim's eyes widened and for a moment they stared at each other. Before either could say anything Steph could be heard shouting from the other end of the store.

"Come ON, slow poke! If you don't hurry it up, I'll eat your ice cream as well!"

The look that Tim gave her made it clear that they would be talking about it at a later date.

* * *

"So you wouldn't believe who I ran into in the ma-" Barbara started saying as she opened the door to her apartment.

"Barbie! We didn't expect you back so soon!" Her father exclaimed, walking over to gather his usual hug.

"Yeah well, I didn't really expect you to come here so early." She shot a look at her boyfriend who scrambled to get up from his position at the table and hide something in his pocket.

"When I got your call I could hardly stay still. It's been ages since you had me over for anything. I thought that I might help with making dinner."

Barbara laughed. "Daddy, we all know that I got my cooking skills from you."

Jim Gordon gave her an extra squeeze before leaning back and looking at her.

"I see that you went shopping. Get anything good. Have you put on weight?" He asked in all one breath.

"Maybe I've put on a few pounds, is that a crime? Now if you'll let me go I have to put these bags in the bedroom."

He let her go and she quickly escaped into the bedroom and shoved the bags into the closet. She looked at herself in the mirror quickly before walking out of the room. Yeah, she was showing. Well, it was a good thing that she was coming clean tonight.

She heard the front door opening and closing again. She walked out of the bedroom wondering who could be here now.

She walked out to see that Bruce and Tim had joined the party. Tim's eyes immediately strayed down to her abdomen before going back up to her face.

"Bruce! Tim? What are you two doing here?" She gave a quick glance over at Dick, who shrugged.

"Dick invited us, I hope that that's alright with you," Bruce explained.

"Yeah, but _someone_ should have told me that we were going to have more guests for dinner. I would have worn something a little less, ah, casual."

"What you're wearing is fine Barbie. But I think that we are all wondering just why you invited us all of here tonight." Her father said from his relaxed position at the table.

"Dad, feet _off_ table."

He held his hands up and removed his feet.

Tim kept shooting her glances before looking over to the spare room. Slowly he began walking over to the room.

"Excuse me gentlemen."

She stood and followed Tim into the spare room.

* * *

Tim was nervous. Did this mean what he thought it meant? What was she doing? He'd been noticing some changes in Barbara over the past few months. Come to think of it, he'd noticed a change in Dick as well. He didn't really allow Barbara to go on solo mission anymore. Dick had always been protective of those he loved, but it had become clearer that he would intercept anything for Barbara. Most of the Team assumed that it was because they were in a relationship. Which they were.

Some things you just don't hide from the family.

There was a moment of awkward silence after Barbara shut the door, where he didn't know what to say. He may be a protégé to the great Batman, but that didn't necessarily mean that he learned how to talk with girls. Sure he was a friend with Stephanie, but she came onto him. He didn't seek her out.

He opened his mouth and Barbara interceded.

"You are going to ask me what I was doing in the maternity section at the department store, aren't you?"

His mouth dried and he could only nod with a gaping mouth.

"You do realize that I could turn this back upon you, and ask you what you were doing in the maternity section, right? Tim, if there is something that you're keeping from us, it might be best to come clean."

"You're one to talk," Tim muttered.

"You're right," Barbara said. "But tonight I hope to remedy that. You do realize that is why I, well Dick, invited you here tonight."

"So you really are-?" Tim couldn't finish his sentence.

"I'm afraid so."

Tim rubbed his head in attempts to relieve a headache he could feel coming on.

"But what about you and the blonde? Steph, that was her name right? We helped her escape the Reach a while ago, right? When did you two even start to hang out? I can't believe that you would start dating without telling anyone. Tim, I thought I knew you better than to just get a girl pregnant that we barely-"

"The baby's not mine!" Tim burst out sinking deflated onto the mattress.

"Oh?"

"It's an old boyfriend of hers. He took off after the whole Reach fiasco. I'm still a, well, you know-"

"I understand. But how long have you been hanging out with her as Robin?"

"A while. She tracked me down, and I guess that I liked being around her so we started to meet outside of costumes. I realize that isn't what Bruce wants, but she really needs someone to lean on at the moment." Tim looked up to Barbara's blue-green eyes searching for the reassurance that he was doing a good thing. Barbara flung an arm around his shoulder.

"You're doing good kid. Don't think less of it. Now, shall we get back out to the party before they start thinking things about us?" She smirked.

"Yeah," he gave a small laugh and plastered a smile on his face.

* * *

Dick was nervous. There were many things to be nervous about. Today was the day that he was going to tell the two father figures in his life that he had gotten Barbara pregnant. Well, Barbara was going to tell it, but half of that baby was him. And he was worried about being a good father. He was determined to not allow him or her, get into the crime-fighting game. Plus there was the little matter he has already discussed earlier in the day.

It was killing him.

Its weight sat there in his pocket, like an anchor. He couldn't leave it anywhere in case Babs found it. She had already rejected him once, and although he knew that they were ready for that next step, he hesitated.

_What if she says no?_

"So, Bruce, how's the business over at Wayne industries?" Gordon said turning to him.

"It's been running smoothly. There was a small disturbance when the Reach aliens were revealed, but luckily I hadn't invested any into their products. Lexcorp got the worst of the backlash."

"I heard. And now there's the business that Luthor is running for senate or something. That's a real kicker."

The spare room opened and Barbara and Tim came back out. Tim was looking significantly less stressed, while Barbara's was teetering on the edge. Dick stood, recognizing the face. They connected eyes briefly before she ran for the kitchen sink.

The sound of vomiting brought everyone's attention to the redhead. Dick walked over quickly and held her long red hair back to keep it from being soiled. With his other hand he rubbed small circles on the small of her back.

"Barbie, what's wrong?" Gordon stood from his chair and walked over to the kitchen.

Barbara reached over her head and turned on the faucet. She took some water into her mouth, before swishing it and spitting out the acid taste.

"Damn morning sickness," she grumbled.

"What?!" Jim Gordon said eyes wide with disbelief. He couldn't have heard that correctly.

Barbara took a deep breath and spun around slowly. She looked her father dead in the eye before looking to Bruce and Tim. She leveled her eyes with her father again.

"I'm pregnant."

Gordon acted as any good father would do. He stood there with a petrified look on his face. Cogs slowly began to turn in his head and his gaze turned to the dark-haired acrobat next to her.

"Is that what this afternoon's conversation was about Boy? Huh? Was it guilt that was speaking?" Fury began to edge itself into his voice and he took a step towards Dick.

Bruce's hand stopped him.

"Give him a chance to explain."

Eyes turned to Dick. Normally Dick was alright with being the center of attention, but he wanted to melt into a puddle. He could feel the glaring daggers from Jim, the disapproving scowl from his own adopted father, and the happy smile from Tim. He could also feel the nerves fraying on Barbara. He needed to hold his own at the moment. He needed to support her.

"I won't apologize for what's been done. It happened and we, together, decided what we were going to do about it, and we are going to do it. You will not be able to change our minds on this. You may not think that what we're doing is the right thing, but we are adults and are capable of handling ourselves. You should be excited. You get to have a grandchild running around in diapers that you can spoil. All I can ask is that you trust us."

Gordon's fury subsided a little. That was a mature answer from a mature person. Even if he still wanted to wring his neck.

Dick's heart was beating faster than it ever beat before. His palms were sweating and he was sure that if there was any more silence he might cave and pass out. That was not something that he wanted to tell two fully grown men that knew multiple ways to kill a man.

Slowly Bruce walked towards his adopted son. His was void of emotion. It was his Batman face and impossible to read. Slowly he reached out his hand.

"Congratulations son."

Relieved Dick took his hand and gave it a quick shake before wrapping his arms around the older man and bringing him into a hug.

"Thank you."

Once that quick embrace was over Gordon walked to the father of his grandchild. His expression rivaled Batman's. But he pulled the young man into a hug and patted him on the back.

"Welcome to the family, Dick. But I swear, if I catch any word about anything," he hissed into Dick's ear.

"I personally give you permission to do whatever you see fit," Dick responded.

"Damn straight."

Dick was smiling as he watched his extended family smiling and talking with Barbara about their plans. It was good to see everyone with a smile on their faces at the same time once in a long time. It had been a long time since he had seen smiles on all of their faces at one time. Dick took a step back to enjoy the peaceful bliss that he was experiencing at the moment. The hard part had not even begun yet.

* * *

**A/N: My, that was a long chapter to write. But I'm satisfied with the way it turned out. And I had to include Steph. She's one of my favorite characters. But then again, nearly every bat-family member is one of my favorites, so I can't pick just one. **

**Seriously people? Only three reviews for the last chapter? I'm not complaining, but I do like to get them. A lot. Please take the time and review. Don't make me beg. PLEASE!**


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